FT. COLLINS, CO. - FEBRUARY 13: Rams fans waved giant heads during the second half. Colorado State defeated San Diego State 66-60 Wednesday night, February 13, 2013 at Moby Arena in Fort Collins. The Rams have won 27 straight games at home. (Photo By Karl Gehring/The Denver Post)

FORT COLLINS — After a typical work day in his Fum McGraw Center office Wednesday, CSU athletic director Jack Graham squeezed in a workout before the Rams’ late-night showdown with San Diego State in Moby Arena.

Even before I joined him as he strode on the elliptical stair-climbing machine, Graham had company — his affable dog, Jed, a Shar-Pei and Jack Russell terrier mix.

“Jed, you made the paper, man,” Graham told his pet.

Multitasking, he also talked about the state of the athletic department he took over in late 2011.

Graham has made the transformation from his previous role as a retired businessman who, also as a former Rams quarterback, was among those asked to pull out his checkbook and back athletic department causes.

Now he’s the one trying to raise the money, asking others to get on board, to share his enthusiasm for the heightened and even audacious ambitions for the athletic department. The days are long, but the workouts still are part of it … wherever they can fit.

On Wednesday, he was about to watch the 24th-ranked Rams get a clutch play from senior point guard Dorian Green down the stretch and beat San Diego State 66-60 to improve to 20-4 on the season and collect their 27th consecutive home-floor win on a CBS Sports Network national broadcast. In the final 65 seconds, Green had six straight points — a 3-pointer and then a three-point play — as the Rams, under first-year coach Larry Eustachy, continue to build on the foundation left behind by Tim Miles.

“This is what the future of Colorado State University athletics looks like,” Graham said before the game. “This level of excellence, this level of effort, this level of competition, this kind of play together. … And equally important is the way this team represents this university, the quality of the character and the academic success these guys are having.

“This raises the bar for everybody.”

The Rams had a packed house Wednesday, but there was a catch. The student allotment of tickets previously was all claimed, but as tipoff approached, CSU allowed nonticketed students waiting outside to enter Moby and fill empty seats. Many wore orange in the “Orange-Out” homage to CSU’s roots as the Colorado Aggies.

“It’s a blast to see the student body get so engaged and become the sixth man and participate in the successes we’re having in Moby,” Graham said. “They’re making a difference and they know they’re making a difference.”

Yes, as I’ve noted previously, this senior-laden CSU team won over many of us with its energetic and selfless style, long before its ascent to the nation’s top 25 this week. Yet the Rams haven’t yet become a torrid ticket among the general public. Maybe that’s the next step on the basketball front.

In football, it’s about gathering enthusiasm for Jim McElwain’s program and generating the contributions to get the stadium project to the groundbreaking stage.

After Graham, the booster, proposed to lead a campaign to raise money to build an on-campus football stadium, CSU president Tony Frank did more than take him up on it; he fired AD Paul Kowalczyk, now a senior associate AD at Illinois, and brought in Graham.

So the success — or failure — of the attempt to raise $125 million by late 2014, which would green-light the conditionally approved and controversial stadium project, likely will define much of Graham’s legacy.

“The first stage of that kind of project is to work with prospective large donors — seven- or eight-figure donors,” Graham said. “We’re doing that. We’re calling on people we know have a relationship with the university and the capability to make those kinds of commitments to the project. … We’re in the middle of it, and I’m optimistic about the outcome.”

So it’s going to get done?

“Oh, absolutely,” Graham said.

The Rams’ Wednesday night basketball matchup was with one of the two schools whose announced departures from the Mountain West was viewed as part of a deterioration of the league, but the Aztecs and Boise State recently decided to call off the moves to the Big East. That will help CSU on a lot of levels, including the football stadium project.

Graham said retaining the two schools “was critical to the success, if not the sheer existence, of the Mountain West conference. It has a very positive effect on CSU. Your mother told you the same thing — who you hang around with matters; pick your friends carefully. By God, we’re picking our friends.”

After watching Air Force kick the CU Buffaloes’ tail, not to mention their undefeated record, into the wild, blue yonder, here’s a legitimate question: How in the world is the Pac-12 recognized as a Power Five football conference?